Ecuador: Presidential candidate shot dead at campaign event ABS-CBN News

Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was shot dead at a campaign rally Wednesday evening. Footage purportedly of the incident shows Villavicencio leaving the event and entering a vehicle when gunshots are suddenly heard. Villavicencio was wounded and taken to a nearby medical center before he died. Other people at the event were also wounded, but is unclear how many were hit. "The Ecuadorian people are crying and Ecuador is mortally wounded," his campaign adviser Patricio Zuquilanda told the Associated Press. "Politics cannot lead to the death of any member of society." The suspect died from injuries sustained during a shootout with police, Ecuador's Attorney-General office said. Villavicencio was one of eight candidates in the election scheduled for August 20. Opinion polls consistently put in him fifth place in recent weeks. President vows action against organized crime Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso confirmed the killing on social media and vowed to hold the culprits accountable. "For his memory and his fight, I assure you that this crime will not remain unpunished," Lasso said. "Organized crime has gone very far, but all the weight of the law will fall on them." He said he would host an urgent meeting with top security officials. Ecuador's former Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner said "we demand that you do something" at a press conference after the shooting. "We are dying, drowning in a sea of tears and we do not deserve to live line this," he said. Who was Fernando Villavicencio? Villavicencio, 59, was a former journalist who held a seat in Ecuador's parliament for six years. He was one of eight candidates at the upcoming election and was supported by the Build Ecuador Movement. Villavicencio was one of the most critical voices against corruption, especially during the government of former President Rafael Correa from 2007 to 2017. Zuquilanda said Villavicencio had received death threats in recent weeks, and he traveled with police protection. Ecuador is in the midst a gang violence epidemic. Villavicencio was married and is survived by five children.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more